Sunday, October 11, 2009

1 Minute Lecture: Bike-share Programs

Bike sharing programs are very popular in Europe, and the US just got its first working program in DC. The concept is that there are "docking stations" around town where one can rent a bike for a day, and return it to another station when finished. The Velib system in Paris is quite comprehensive, with 20,600 rental bikes and 1,451 docking stations throughout the city (Velib Press Kit). Renters can walk up to a station and check out a bike for a mere $1.50 a day. Velib, like all bike-share programs, reports some problems with vandalism and theft; Clear Channel-owned 'SmartBike' in DC attempts to remedy this problem by requiring an annual online membership where people give their personal information and a $40 membership fee in order to check out bikes. SmartBike has only 100 bikes at 10 rental locations throughout the city, and if you accidentally return your bike after more than 24 hours, you will be charged $550. Also, SmartBike stations are only open from 6am to 10pm, so renters have a limited amount of time to check out a bike.


http://www.en.velib.paris.fr/comment_ca_marche
https://www.smartbikedc.com/program_information.asp

1 comment:

  1. Small edits:
    Bike sharing programs are very popular in Europe, and the US just got its first working program in DC. The concept is that there are "docking stations" around town where one can rent a bike for a certain amount of time, and return it to another station when finished. The Velib system in Paris is quite comprehensive, with 23,000 rental bikes and 1800 docking stations throughout the service area. Renters can walk up to a station and check out a bike for a mere $1.50 a day with no usage charges for trips under 30 minutes. Velib, like all bike-share programs, reports some problems with vandalism and theft; Clear Channel-owned 'SmartBike' in DC, as most systems, attempts to remedy this problem by requiring an annual online membership where people give their personal information and a $40 membership fee in order to check out bikes. SmartBike has only 120 bikes at 10 rental locations throughout the city. The maximum rental period is 3 hours and if you accidentally return your bike after more than 24 hours, you will be charged $550. Also, SmartBike stations are only open from 6am to 10pm, so renters have a limited amount of time to check out a bike.

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